Crain's Forum: Rethinking the post-Labor Day school start

Tourism industry experts say Michigan's post-Labor Day school start law has become "feckless" as waivers are granted on-demand. Education advocacy groups have long been critical of the mandate.

In 2005, Michigan became one of only three states to require public schools to start after Labor Day. It was an effort to kick-start the tourism economy during a decade-long single-state recession. And by some measures, it seems to have worked.

But school start has increasingly become irrelevant as the state has granted waivers to school districts that adopt so-called balanced calendars for more year-round education or start early for another academic reason. The number of schools opting out of the mandate has nearly tripled since 2014.

Is it time to rethink the late-summer school start? Crain's senior editor Chad Livengood and other experts from tourism, hospitality and public education in Michigan discuss in this month's Crain's Forum.